Up In The Air

Unfortunately nothing good to report. Alaska Airlines has been very helpful and is looking everywhere for the computer, but they have not yet found it. Heather will be back late tomorrow and will be able to use my computer to fill you in on things. We both want to thank you for your support.

– Mike

Recently Heather was asked to take part in an event put on by Coca-Cola in Washington D.C., and I immediately told her she absolutely had to do it. I would like to think I told her to do it because the event is for a great cause – to support America’s National Park’s in their efforts to link outdoor recreation, education and awareness to the physical and mental well being of Americans – but it might have had more to do with the fact I am the world’s Champion Diet Coke drinker. There’s photographic evidence:

Heather, motivated by more noble reasons than me, agreed to take part, so she, Annie, and Grandma Linda flew out to Washington D.C. on Alaskan Airlines Wednesday morning. Heather sent me lots of texts so I didn’t worry too much, and she even sent me this adorable photo of a very patient Annabel:

Unfortunately, the flight didn’t end happily, and not because she was stuck next to a passenger without a sense of personal space. Once the flight landed Heather waited until everyone had de-planed (so as not to hold people up with the production that is traveling with a baby), then gathered her things and left with Annie and her Mom. Upon getting to the hotel, however, she realized that she had left on the plane – of all things – her computer.

Heather immediately called the airport and spoke with an employee of Alaskan Airlines who said that the plane had been taken down to be cleaned by the cleaning crew, but that he would see if they found it and call back. Heather told him her seat number and exactly where the computer was (on the floor under her seat), then waited a very anxious hour until the employee called back and said….they couldn’t find it. Heather told him it had to be there as she was the last one off, so the employee asked the leader of the cleaning crew over the walkie-talkie if he was sure they didn’t find it. The leader of the cleaning crew (Heather could hear all of this over the phone) said that they only checked the seat pockets, and not on the floor as Heather had told them.

The Alaskan Airlines employee then told Heather he would have the morning crew check. That’s where we are now. Hopefully it’s there to be found, but it is an expensive item, and expensive items sometimes get taken when left behind.

I really hope the computer is there. Heather was really shook up…it has lots of priceless photos and videos of our Maddie on there. If those are gone that is going to hurt beyond words.

Fingers crossed. Oh, and if you know anyone who will be cleaning the Alaskan Airlines Flight #6 out of Los Angeles in Washington D.C. tomorrow morning…give them a holler for Heather. She needs it right now.

Heather feels stupid for having left the computer and knows she is supposed to be responsible for looking after her own stuff, but it still stinks. Feel free to leave a funny story about the time you did something stupid to help cheer up.

309 Comments

Oh, Heather, I hope they get it back to you right away. Not sure if this will make you feel any better, but I drove 1.5 hours to the airport on Tuesday — to find out that my flight was on Wednesday! Thinking positive thoughts for the safe return of your precious materials.

Sarah M. says:

Definitely contact their PR dept. A little pressure from them & it might magicallly show up. If they’re smart they won’t mess with a very popular mommy blogger & her followers! I actually sent a tweet today to @alaskaair asking them to please help find @mamasphor’s laptop. Or at least I thought I did! I handle @papajohns tweets & sent it from their account by accident! I had to delete it an hour or so later when I noticed the mistake, but maybe a message from Papa John’s account got their attention! I hope!

Cinthia says:

I’m praying Heather gets her computer back. Losing all those pics and videos of Maddie would be devastating for you guys, but sad for her readers as well, as we all have become and remain fond of Maddie and her memory. Best of luck!

Btw, I got the hook ups with Emirate Airlines, so if you guys ever lose anything on the way to Dubai, lemme know!

Oh, and hugs to Heather, don’t let this upset you too much, it happens to everyone!!!

Kayla says:

When I was reading the first portion of this post and read that Heather lost her laptop, my first few thoughts were; “Ooh, so expensive. I hope she finds it! So much money, oh no.”

Then I read the part about all the *priceless* videos and pictures of Maddie and felt sick. And I still do. Dear God I hope the laptop is found soon. My heart sank and my stomach dropped reading that part.

Oh I really hope they do the decent thing and it shows up in the morning. I you guys must be stressing and worrying to no end right now. It is hard traveling with an infant, when my daughter was a baby I strapped her in the car and drove off with the diaper bag on the roof. Which contained my wallet and a signifigant amount of cash! Needless to say it was all lost and never found. We all get mommy-brain sometimes but again REALLY hoping they find your labtop!

Poppy says:

When we were taking my son home for the first time from the hospital we accidentally locked HIM and the KEYS in the car. Can you say PANIC?!?! Mommy brain indeed! (I was near hysterical and could not wait for tow truck so hubby broke a window Babe slept through all of it.

I’m so sorry! I really hope they find it! My hard drive crashed on my computer a few years ago and I lost ALL of my precious photos and files!

But I just flew from Northern California to Southern today and while I was in a hurry to try to get on the plane, get the stroller collapsed and into the bag along with another bag, I took my phone from the stroller and put it somewhere without having any idea where I put it. Finally after getting onto the plane, sitting down, getting the baby settled and getting myself settled I realized that I didn’t have it. After searching my purse, the diaper bag, and the car seat, all in a panic with it no where to be found, I told the flight attendant, they made an announcement and still nothing! The plane starts moving and I take another look through everything and Viola! I find it stuffed into a pocket in the diaper bag wrapped in a bib. How’d that happen? No flippin idea!

Anyways I know a cell phone is no where near as important as a computer, especially one with that much special stuff on it, its still not a fun thing to go through! This was the first time we traveled on a plane too! I am hoping and praying that it gets found and is safe and sound! It’s nearly impossible to not forget something when you’re traveling with a baby! There is just so much dang stuff!

OMG You know how i feel about this. We left our camera in LA when we visited you guys last year. It was in our hotel room. We called an hour after check out and everyone searched but it magically was not there.. we still dont have pictures from our first trip to la… boo! i hate when people steal things.

I saw Heather’s tweet and my heart just sank! HUGE amounts of finger crossing that the laptop is returned!

Right after we picked my eighth-grade graduation dress (a semi-formal dress, of course), I managed to leave the dress in its bag in a Payless Shoe Source. I realized it about 15 minutes after leaving the store. The dress? Gone. Never to be found. My mom had to go and buy another identical dress on that same day because I lost it approximately 4.6 seconds after she bought it.

While the cost of a dress doesn’t compete with a pricey laptop, it is a memory that sticks out among the many purses and driver’s licenses and even dependent military ID cards (and those used to be big freaking deals to replace – not sure how it is now) that I’ve lost through the years.

Cinthia says:

My mom taught me to clap my hands and dance to San Pascual Bailongo. If I’m ever in a situation where I just cannot find something, I’ll do it (even if I look like a dorkus clapping and dancing and chanting “San Pascual Bailongo, ¿dónde está mi whateveritisIlost?)

Rach L says:

Oh Heather and Mike, I am so sorry. I do know your frustration. As a broke ass film student using a second hand laptop, I cordially offered to drive some fellow students home from class one night. I was cleaning out the back seat and placed my bag carrying my Mac laptop down by the wheel of the car. We all got in and I backed up, and drove forward about twenty feet. Only then did I realize I’d backed over my bag and my computer and then dragged it behind the car. The laptop was no longer usable and it had all my programs and assignments for class. The school required a Mac and I had to upgrade in order to return to class. When I did return, everyone laughed at me for crying over it, including the professor. . Smooth. Crossing my fingers for a more positive out outcome for you n

Poor Heather. I hate that for her and I truly hope that an honest person finds her computer and gets it back to her. It is so frustrating that they can’t just get back on the plane and look for it. I sure do miss the days of great customer service. I am sending positive vibes her way.

polym says:

My daughter left one of her favorite toys on a Virgin America flight last week – I called both airports and told them exactly where on the plane it was – it ‘wasn’t found’ either. Those big salvage places the airlines sell their stuff too probably have something to do with it.

I hope she gets this back, I can imagine how devastating it’s loss would be.

We all leave things behind sometimes. Unfortunately it totally happens to all of us one time or another. I hope the trolls leave you alone on this one. I’ll be hoping for the safe return of Heather’s laptop.

I’ve been following this on twitter and I really hope they find the computer.

Last Christmas we spent 2 days getting photos of our then 8 month old daughter sitting in front of the tree for xmas cards. It was so time consuming b/c of the simple fact that well, she was 8 months old.

Out of the countless pics we took, only 1 was usable. I was deleting the other photos the same time that I was making the card.

I got a little too trigger happy with the mouse and deleted the picture we were going to use and also deleted the trash.

The process of getting those pics of our little girl didn’t bring out the best in my hubby and me so I knew we couldn’t have another “photo session”. I seriously considered throwing some reindeer antlers on the cat and using that for our card pic.

Then after a few hours of doing I don’t know what with the computer (you can tell how computer savvy I am) I finally got the picture back up. I know it’s just one picture but it took a lot to get it and you couldn’t pay me to do it again.

thurieyyah says:

oh no- my heart is so heavy for her. the laptop can be replaced (sucks but it can)- but not the pictures and videos of maddie. i am just sick over this, crying big fat tears. i’ve done all sorts of absent-minded things, and you know…when you’re travelling with an infant, you have carte blanche to be a little forgetful.

i am praying that this laptop makes its way home. sending you lots of hugs and prayers…

Jami says:

Maria says:

Not to be a downer, but I once left my ipod in a seat pocket on an Alaska Air flight, and within two hours I called and told them exactly where it was, but it was never “found.” I’m sure it was “taken” though. I really hope Heather has better luck!

From the time my kids could understand, I have told them when you stand up somewhere like a plane or bus or the movies, turn around and look at your seat and see if you have everything. It’s funny now because they are all in their late 20’s and I see them doing this all the time!

I once almost sent my husband on a two hour goose chase to look at a camping site for my wedding ring, which I had stuffed in a NET BAG of kids toys and we only found after he had set out on his mission to scour a campground that had just closed for the season after our Labor Day weekend trip had ended. I was pretty relieved to find it. I’m sending good ju-ju, Heather needs it, I bet she feels positively ill with those photos and videos at risk of being lost. I feel sort of sick myself. Keep us posted.

Rachel says:

On the second night of our honeymoon, my husband woke me up searching the bed frantically and saying, “I lost my wedding ring! I lost my wedding ring!” We didn’t find it until the middle of the next day, when I went to get some money from the room safe and found it in there. He had taken it off for safekeeping and forgotten about it! (Poor guy, the first time in his life he ever had to wear jewelry! :-D)

Alice says:

I’m really sorry to hear this and am wishing for the laptop to be returned!

Heather – we all do it. I’ve left passports, cell phones, classes, purses behind. Yes, it’s silly but it’s also human, especially when you have all the stress of de-planing with a baby. Please try not to blame yourself.

We went to the beach with our friends last year. Our friend put his wedding ring in a pocket somewhere. As we were leaving we started flipping sand out of our clothes and took off. Later we realize, the ring is gone! Our friends bought a metal detector, ran back on the beach and picked a random location to search. Within a minute, beepbeepbeep, they found it!
Hoping you find your precious things–and when you do, external hard drive backup!

Moll says:

Sending good vibes to Heather!
In college, I was en route to my study abroad semester in Spain. I was 19 and pretty much scared out of my mind, didn’t know anyone yet, and was about to live with a Spanish family.
There was a layover in Paris. I got off the plane and my passport did not, which I realized about 1 hour into a 1.5 hour layover. i needed it to make the next leg of the flight. I panicked: no passport meant trying to navigate Paris until I could get a new one, which would be days, and trying to make arrangements for a late arrival in Madrid.

Anyway, I went to the counter and, in my awful one-semester French, said roughly the following: “I would go to Spain. I have leaving my passport on plane. I want the passport. Can not encounter passport. Ticket have. This plane. Search passport, you.”
I understood JUST enough French to hear the counter lady make fun of how white I had turned to the other counter ladies.

Long wait, lots of tears, and …. they found it! If no one else has been on the plane, chances are the laptop is still there. Once you (I hope!!!) get it back, please make copies of all those photos and videos? I know it will take up quite a few drives or disks, but you’ll rest a little easier if anything happens to the computer again.

Anna says:

I accidentally threw away my birth certificate. I left my blackberry and makeup bag at security one flight and didn’t realize it until I landed at my destination. I just left my DSLR, with all of the photos from my three month work trip through Asia, in a hotel safe in Hong Kong. All of these things found their way back to me, after plenty of worry and tears and stress. I’m hoping for the best, and trusting in the honest people who are going to be working tomorrow morning, that they’ll help get your laptop to its rightful home.

My husband once left his camera bag complete with fancy camera and lots of new lenses on top of the car outside our house at the end of a long trip. Some rat picked it up.

On a more positive note someone lost a memory card on Hampstead Heath (big wildish park in North London) recently. A couple found it and looked at the 100s of pictures on it which were clearly of a round the world trip and scoured the pictures for clues as to the identity of the owner. Found pictures of a wedding which had a caterer’s name visible and the owner was tracked down that way. There are good people in the world and hopefully your laptop has ended up with one of them.

For some reason this Hampstead Heath story brought tears to my eyes – I guess I’m just surprised when people make efforts like that for strangers. Heather, I am SO hoping you get your computer back – my stomach is in knots for you. How awful.
That photo of Annie is beautiful – a bright spot in this upsetting news.
I plan on tweeting at @alaskanair about this – please update if the computer is found!
Wishing you a good trip too (if that’s possible after this).

That is an amazing story, in the midst of all these stories of people never recovering the things that were taken from them. There has to be a special place in hell for the horrible person who snatched this laptop and won’t return it.

I don’t get it. I work as a copywriter for a huge online company and because we write about the tangible products our offices are in a warehouse location. We have to go through security to leave the building. I’m not insulted, I understand there are shady people in the world so we all have to pay the price. Why aren’t airline and cleaning crews required to do the same when clearly there is SO much left going on?

I’m so sorry! I really really hope you get it back. I left our video camera (complete with some recently filmed footage under an airplane seat once, due to the exact same situation- conscientious waiting to de-plane with my child until others were off the aircraft. I was really really upset, and felt completely dumb, but my husband kept reminding me that while we moms are close to super human, we aren’t quite there yet. In other words I shouldn’t blame myself. I was also more upset over the loss of the footage than the actual piece of equipment. I am sad to say that I didn’t get it back, so I really hope that the employees of Alaskan Airlines are better lookers than the employees of a certain airline beginning with a “D”.

Hope you get it back. I mainly leave hats and jackets on airplanes. Haven’t tried a computer yet.

I once lost my keys – car and house. Couldn’t find them any where. So grabbed the spares and went. After a few days, I was in the car and braked suddenly. The keys came sliding down my windscreen and sat on my bonnet. They had been on the car roof! I have also left a mobile phone on the car roof. Drove through a thunderstorm unaware. Unbelievably it still worked afterwards!!

One time I dropped my car keys into the depths of Lake Champlain. It’s a long story, but it involves sitting on the side of the road in only a bathing suit for 9 hours with no cell or anything waiting for AAA.

roshan says:

That needs to be turned into a TV mini-movie or something to be broadcast on Saturday evenings. Also, some effects from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre could be added to give the story an extra edge. Don’t worry, in the end you still will be rescued by Triple A, only sans a few limbs here and there.

Jenna says:

My husband and I were traveling in Russia on a trip with colleagues from the University at which he had only been teaching 6 months. Long story short, we left our bag at a local restaurant. He said I should have had it, I said he should of had it… you can imagine the conversation. Anyway, it had EVERYTHING in it… our passports (his idea not to have them on our person), train tickets to Moscow, credit cards. We realized it the next morning before he was to give a talk. Needless to say everyone in the group heard about it. The head of the trip even said to us “I though you guys were seasoned travelers”. I had to walk over to the bar with a Russian woman who was not a happy camper. (She scared the s#@t out of me). It turned our that the bag was still there, which seemed just short of a miracle. We felt so embarrassed, anxious, worried etc.! So don’t beat yourself up about it… we all do silly things (at least you didn’t leave Miss Annabel on the plane! Hoping the situation turns out ok and someone will do the right thing…
Thinking about you!!!
Jenna

Aunt to Another Maddy says:

Once when covering a major event I’d been preparing for for two months (I’m a journalist), I stopped to have lunch in a park. Got all the way back to the main venue and realized I’d left my backpack WITH COMPUTER on the grass in the park! Got the cabbie to take me back and I practically hyperventilated all the way. Miraculously, it was still there. (I’m in Japan; this isn’t rare).

I never did tell my boss. If I’d lost the computer I would have immediately submitted my resignation and gotten on the ferry to Korea I could see from the cab as we raced back to the park….

roshan says:

Dude, chill out on the diet drinks, too much artificial sweeteners ain’t good for the body. Replace some of it with the best-est drink in the world, WATER.
Also, since being an atheist doesn’t allow me to pray for the return of the laptop, I am hoping the return is facilitated due to pure altruistic reasons.

Abby says:

I’ve never lost anything of true value…but last year I did leave a pillowcase, a new jacket and a Victoria’s Secret bra behind in a hotel room drawer. I called, they found it and returned it to me (I had to pay shipping!). Who would want that stuff anyway, right?

Just last week my car was vandalized and my purse was stolen…all in all they got about $600+ worth of stuff from my purse, including my beloved class ring, which was very sentimental to me. I know I’ll probably never see it again.

Suffice it to say, none of my stuff is nowhere near as important as pictures and videos of your precious baby. I’ll say extra prayers for you that an honest and caring person finds that laptop!

Tracy says:

I am going to have my husband leave a lengthy comment tonight about how to back all of that stuff up on a separate drive at your home. You should also then store it at another location. So it will be in three places – your computer, the separate drive, and the other location (like Grandma’s or a safety deposit box.) If you want to e-mail me in the interim, I will forward your e-mail to his office and have him respond to you that way.

defendUSA says:

Sorry, but I have to swear. Shit, shit, shit. I freak out with stuff that has to do with photos, so I am feeling kinda pukey for you both.
When we were on our honeymoon in London and taking the ferry from France to the Dover Cliffs, my new husband got a wee bit trashed and left my new Minolta x-70 on a chair in the restaurant.
Clearly, he screwed up. But he was perfectly willing to let it ruin our honeymoon. Not me. At the London Bridge, I left him speechless on a bench and told him to get over it and I would meet him back there in 2 hours with *his* attitude adjusted, otherwise, he could see me later at the Genesis concert and by God, he better be smiling.
We never got it back. You just have to remember that it could be much worse, and it’s not.

I know it hurts to lose things. I will say a prayer and hope to hell, that someone remembered how adorable Annabel was and that gee, they should do the right thing and return it!!!

Jellis In Cleveland says:

I hope you were able to sleep last night. I am praying that they have it for you.

My younger brother had a daughter when he was very young. I was very excited. I spoiled her like crazy. Well one day I took her to the zoo. She was 3 or 4. As soon as we arrived I misplaced her. She had to use the potty and went with another family to do so. I ran around that zoo looking for her because I was fearing calling my brother or her mom to tell them she was gone. My heart was breaking and I was starting an emotional breakdown when she walked up with the other family. Ever since then I go into immediate panic mode when I go for something and it is not there.

Mia says:

Oh Heather, how awful for you! I have my fingers crossed! If it makes you feel any better, I am the queen if doing dumb stuff! A couple of years ago I went to the bookshop with my daughter and my newborn in her carrier. Can you guess how the story ends? I put her down in the aisle to reach for a book, went to pay, left the shop, went to the supermarket and FINALLY realised! I rushed back, hysterical and found her sleeping peacefully in the same aisle! I still get upset when I think about it and my husband still knows he can’t tease me about it.

Jen says:

(((hugs))) to you, Heather. I can imagine how you are feeling and my heart just hurts for you. I am praying that they find your computer. I love the idea of emailing your blog to the airlines public relations team. Hang in there. Hoping and praying for great news today.

This broke my heart last night when I saw it on Twitter. Don’t know if it helped, but a bunch of us, led by the amazing Anissa, tweeted the hell out of Alaskan Airlines for a couple of hours. I pray they get it back to her ASAP.

I once taught an entire class with my pantsleg tucked into my knee-high panty ho. (Panty ho? Is that right? it was just the one side.) I had tucked the legs of my pants in to the top of the hose to go to the nasty public restroom and I guess I forgot to pull one leg back out. And yes, I wear knee high panty hose. I’m 33 going on 97.

Ellie says:

My wallet fell out of my purse on an American Airlines flight to Boston. Before it made it back to me, it flew to San Francisco and Dallas, TX, so I think my drivers’ license has more frequent flier miles than I do. Good luck finding the laptop.

Here’s hoping we find that laptop soon! Prayers to St. Anthony for Heather.

We moved last November and with all the stress of moving I, for whatever reason, placed our camera under a hat on the night table. Finally the days passed, the dust settled and I wondered about the camera. Fast forward about 7 months, still no camera but the house was turned upside down. One morning on a whim, I picked up the hat to shield my eyes from the sun through the window and there it was.

am having sympathy nausea for you guys. I really hope it’s there – there is no way for the person that might’ve taken it to know what they’ve got on their hands – maybe a twitter storm is needed if it is gone.

suzanne says:

I’ve lost house keys, car keys, wallet, a very beloved cameo ring that belonged to my mother (I found it as I was taking out the trash b/c I noticed a cameo ring-shaped object pressing against the trash bag), left half of my CD collection on the train, and so on. I have a rare & special talent for losing things, forgetting to do things/bring things/turn things off/ turn things on — you name it, I will forget it. I once drove my daughter home from the park with my house keys and wallet ON THE TOP OF THE CAR. Somehow, they got wedged under the luggage rack and did not fall off. Ridiculous.

It has made me rather neurotic about double and triple checking before I leave the house/plane/cab, but even with the triple checking I still forget. Believe me, you could not be any worse than me! Having said that, I know that computer is truly priceless because of what is stored on it. I am hoping and praying that you recover it and I agree that you should email this blog to the airlines PR team! Air Alaska — we are watching!!!!

Tamela says:

When my first was born (6 years ago next month, WOW.) We took a roll of film to Walmart to develop his birth pictures. They lost it and as a result, I lost it in the 1 hour photo, crying “Those are the ONLY picutures of my son’s BIRTH!!!” I was sick. The good news is they found the film and pictures the next day. I”m hoping and praying the same for you.

So, dumb things? I do them daily. I dropped my cell on the bus (I’m a commuter) once and followed it to the next stop, stopped the bus full of people to crawl on the floor looking for it in the dark. It was in my pocket.

Just last week, my darling husband tried to move our car which was stuck on the steepest.driveway.ever. in a beach house rental. In an effort to get the car off mount everest WITHOUT bottoming out, he put the car in drive, gunned it, and when the car FLEW backwards, he didn’t break. No he kept his foot on the gas. Good news? He didn’t bottom out. Bad news? He hit a tree, causing almost $4K in damages, including a broken window. We were over 500 miles from home. Oh, and did I mention? It’s a brand new car.

Rachel says:

I have lost many, many things, but THE dumbest thing I have ever done is drive away from a gas station in a rental car with my boss…with the gas hose still in the tank of the car. Still trying to live it down.

Mindy says:

I just felt sick to my stomach reading that you left your computer with all your treasures on the airplane. I really hope to hear good news. Keep us posted.
A few week back my husband and I accidentally left our truck unlocked and our DVD players we have hooked up for our 2 year old and 7 month old (we are going on a 10 hour plus trip to the cottage) was taken along with my son’s favourtie Elmo movie. I know it was partly our fault for having left the trunk unlocked but I was so upset. Mostly because I felt it was taken from my kids not me. However, two DVD players and an Elmo movie don’t even come close to your computer and pictures. Hopefully we hear good news soon and we don’t even have to go there.

My grandmother gave me the diamon from my great-great-grandmother’s engagement ring. I had it put into a necklace, which I wore occasionally and then took off, leaving it on a shelf by the bed. When we were moving out of our apartment, I realized I didn’t have the necklace. We got the apartment down to bare floors and searched everywhere, but we couldn’t find it. We asked the landlord to keep an eye out and return it (the diamond had a chip in it, we emphasized – it wasn’t even that valuable!), but surprise surprise, I never saw it again.

Megan says:

I’m two hours south of DC. They may have already cleaned it, but I’m sending some positive vibes up Route 29 for Heather right now!

Years ago, my roommate’s dog knocked my laptop off my desk and killed the hard drive. I couldn’t afford to pay for the computer place to try to get any of my files off, so I held onto it for six years. This year I got a big tax refund and this was going to be the year I paid someone whatever it cost to get back the countless photos, documents and music that I’d lost, but…I can’t find that daggone thing! I can’t imagine how devastated I’d be if I were in Heather’s shoes. I hope they find it.

I don’t often pray about material things, but there are so many intangible things on that machine that I do pray it is recovered. The one bright spot, if there can be one if the laptop is gone, is that Heather made this blog and though I’m sure it’s just a fraction of what is on the computer, there are lots of videos and pictures of sweet Maddie on here that will never be lost.
But I do hope and pray that the computer is found and returned.

If it makes you feel better, once as I was leaving a plane, my wallet fell out of my purse and I didn’t notice. That is, until I was leaving the airport and went to pay the parking garage, and realized it was gone. I turned around and ran back to the airport as fast as I could. They wouldn’t let me past security (obviously), but I found someone at the ticket desk who talked to the cleaning crew over the walkie-talkie.

I figured it was gone, because someone would find it and be all, “hey! Free money!” And I was going to be screwed trying to fly back home with no ID. I was trying SO hard not to cry, and then suddenly there was an airline employee holding up my wallet in front of me, saying, “Did you lose this?” I swear I almost hugged him.

The point of that is that there are good people out there, and I hope one of them is working at DCA to help you get your laptop back.

Kellie says:

I once left my purse hanging on the back of a stall in a way side bathroom when we were traveling. Inside it was $500 in cash, my passport (which I shouldn’t have been carrying, but I forgot to take it out), my camera, all my ID, 3 credit cards, a garmin GPS, my checkbook and my blackberry. I noticed that I didn’t have it with me when we were 100 miles away – I couldn’t even call anyone because it’s not like Waysides are listed in the phone book. I thought my husband was going to kill me – we traveled silently back to the wayside (the longest 100 miles EVER) and of course – it wasn’t there. I was balling at this point, afraid to leave the bathroom without my purse in hand – I have visions of my husband leaving me there. When I finally got brave enough to come out – my husband was standing there with my purse! I was taking so long in the bathroom (checking every stall) that he struck up a conversation with a cleaning person who just happened to find my purse about 10 minutes before. I was so happy I hugged and kissed the cleaning dude. Now I’m super paranoid and check and recheck that I have everything with me. Lesson learned.

Once my wallet fell out of my purse at a movie theater and I didn’t notice until the next morning. I went back and the theater said the cleaning crew hadn’t found anything but I was welcome to go back and look. My bright orange wallet was right in the middle of the floor in front of where I had been sitting… some cleaning crew! I wish they’d let you go search the plane yourself. Can’t believe they didn’t even look in the place you told them to. I’ll be thinking of you and checking back hoping for good news!

KelliG says:

There are good people in the world, so here’s to hoping it’s one of them who found your computer. Once a friend of mine and I were on a business trip to Miami and she left her phone and receipts (which are needed to reimbursement from the company) in the taxi on the way to the airport. She didn’t realize it until it was too late. I kept calling it and texting it, hoping the taxi driver would hear or answer. Well, once we got back to Houston, the taxi driver called me, said she had my friend’s phone and receipts and promptly mailed them back to her. That gave me a whole new faith in humanity. So keep your head up…good things can happen!

Patti B. says:

Ugh. That sucks. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that Alaskan Airlines calls this morning with very good news and the employees do the right thing and return the laptop.

Years ago when we were camping with my family my husband lost his keys. He offered my young brothers $50 if they could find the keys. When no one could we had to find a Honda dealer in the area that could make a key for us. 3 months or so later we got a call from my mom saying that as they were closing up the camper for the season my brother found the key stuck in behind the bed my husband and I used. Even though we didn’t really need the key anymore my husband still gave my little brother the $50

Kate C. says:

Don’t feel bad – I once called the police and reported my car “stolen,” only to see it as I turned the corner out of the parking lot where I was “sure” I parked it. The police told me that I might get pulled over at gunpoint (standard procedure for stolen cars) until the report could clear out of the system

That sort of thing always sucks. A few years ago my husband and I traveled to Las Vegas. We spent a few days sight seeing, drove out to Hoover Dam, etc. Then one night while waiting for a show, we played a few slot games and of course forgot the camera (with all the pictures) next to one of the machines. Once we realized our mistake we rushed back there, searched the area, checked lost and found, etc. but it was gone. It was a nice camera too… So, we bought a smaller camera and then re-traced as many of our steps as we could in our last few days to make up for lost pictures. I think everyone has an “oh shit” moment like that at some point. Since then my husband has lost 2 other cameras (in 1 year!) in a similar manner. Now I always make him bring a giant camera that he can’t forget and wear the neck strap at all times I really hope they find Heather’s computer.

Cheryl says:

Recently I left my iphone on top of some half cases of pop in the grocery store while I was putting some in my cart. I had my headset on and still had a signal and was talking to my husband as I walked through the store so didn’t realize until I lost the signal standing in the line to pay. I was panicked just knowing someone had it, called my number from someone else’s phone and it rang, someone answered but hung up so then I was sure someone had it. I was talking to the manager and customer service and then was about to leave when I saw an Angel standing there asking a cashier where she could turn in a cell phone and she was holding up my iphone (knew it was mine by the pink case). I started to cry, kind of dumb but I was so relieved, and gave her a hug and told her what an Angel she was. Hopefully you will have an Angel too Heather, they are out there. I think that was the thing that made me the happiest, I could have replaced my iphone but just knowing that there are good, honest people out there made my day.

wow I hope she can retrieve her ocmputer. I do not want to even think of a loss like that- those images and videos..

That photo of your babe sure makes her look like the growing wonderful six month old she is…

I had a little laugh at Heather’s last post when she said she couldn’t wait the two years until teething was over.. as right now my 16 year old is struggling with wisdom teeth pain and my second daughter has been having trouble with her 12 year old molars… 2 years…heh …to be a momma.

Linda says:

No…let’s not. I’m reading these comments with increasing incredulity. This is not the airlines fault and spamming the crap out of them isn’t going to accomplish anything and, frankly, makes Heather look terrible. It makes her look like a whiny kid who called out the playground bullies when she spilled her ice-cream. Let’s just stop acting like harassing airline employees is going to fix this. I hope you get your computer back Heather and I’m really sorry you lost your pictures.

Tina says:

now cleaning crews are contract companies that work for minimum wage, and the Flight attendants would not have looked under the seats, they just want off the plane so they can get to their hotel and go to sleep, so could one of the cleaning people taken it . yes possibly but a laptop would be a little harder to just slip into a pocket…. and the cleaning crews are usually about 8-10 people at once so someone would definatly notice that. No other airline would go through as much as they are doing, EVER! I personally love Alaska Airlines and do hope her laptop turns up somewhere…..but doubt it will

Over the years I’ve found the Swiss amazing at returning and turning in lost items, so I’ll try to send some good Swiss social norm vibes your way.

Here’s my story of not just my stupidity, but *an entire family’s* stupidity: My late grandfather was a very good amateur photographer and especially in the 40s and 50s was into cool Man Ray kind of stuff. His pictures won or placed in juried contests. He also used my mother as a model sometimes when she was young, and boy were some of those lovely pictures. It was good stuff, and it was my grandfather’s. After he died we hung some prints on the walls but everything else was stored in the attic. Where lived a family of squirrels. Do I need to tell you how this ends? My mom dies, my brother and I have to go through the house to keep/sell/throw away/value the estate and come across a stack of utterly and completely destroyed prints and negatives.

I think the better photographic evidence of your Diet Coke addiction is you passed out on the couch with like a baker’s dozen of empty cans behind you.

And I’ll put in a plug for Mozy back-up systems, backing up to an external server, which saved all my pictures of my kids when my computer hardware and software imploded and was a total lost cause.

Just to give you some hope- my Dad is an airline pilot and on 3 occassions he has found an Apple laptop that has been left behind. He has taken all 3 of them with him, gotten to an Apple store as quickly as he can, taped his business card to the top of it and had Apple look up the owner and send it back, while charging my Dad for the shipping. He doesns’t get reimbursed but he hopes it will show people that he and his airline care. I’m hoping you have an equally good ending as the laptops my Dad has found.

Annie says:

Nellie says:

Can’t think of any stories right now and it’s probably because there are so many that I’ve subconsciously blocked them out…ha, ha!!

Seriously though, I hope she finds the laptop and am sending my guardian angel, Nicky John Paul to assist as well as keeping fingers and toes crossed that the precious item is found and brought back to the loving hands of Heather!

Kimberlee says:

Last Wednesday my new husband (of 18 days) deleted all of the pictures from my camera… all of my Hawaiian honeymoon pictures are gone. The consolation is that we have the pictures that he took from his camera.

kay says:

so you want a little story to make you feel better. We were living in an apt that had a tiny 1 care garage and it did not have an opener on it so it required a lock and key to keep people out. well i got home on a hot day and unlocked the door pulled in turned the can off throw the keys in the seat to get my 1 and 2 year old boys out. well i saw they were asleep so i decided to go in side and and get them that way so i closed the garage and looked it and proceeded to go in side the front door well my keys were still in the car. oops ! we were renting so i went to go see my apt manager for a key she was at lunch so what else can i do to rescue my babies i broke the garage door and got them out. well it turns out is would have been a lot cheaper if I would have just broke a window! I know long story but i really hope the air line does the right thing and gets that computer back to you!

Just saw that they claim they didn’t find it – just a thought – would Alaska Air send notice to cleaning crew – and tell them the circumstances – ask them to remove hard drive – or copy all pictures and videos to a DVD and send to you guys anonymously? Something to save the material. xoxo

gugs says:

WHen I was living in Israel a camera (among other things) was stolen from a housebelonging to a man who had just lost his son. The photos on the camera were the last ones taken of his and he was obviously distraught. The police put out an announcement for the thief to return the camera no questions asked. And it was! They never caught the thief but at leasther had a conscience!

Snickrsnack Katie says:

I am praying SO HARD that you find that laptop! The thing is, obviously a flight attendant or clean-up crew person stole it if it was indeed stolen, since she was the last person off the flight. And that is SO hideous! I say you need to contact Alaskan Airlines and let them know your whole story – direct them to your blog – ANYTHING – and let them know if they don’t find this laptop that you will be blogging about Alaskan Airlines every day and their incompetence in finding items and the fact that their employees steal left-behind belongings. I have a feeling that they will do the right thing and make SURE that they find it – but I bet knowing what a famous blogger you are will spur them into action! I am not one to promote something like that usually, but this is important. Those videos of Maddie are priceless!

So sorry! It sucks so bad when things like this happen. I travel with my laptop a lot, and recently freaked out about all the what ifs. I ran a full back-up to an external hard drive. We are getting a second one for photos and important files to keep in our safety deposit box. When you get the laptop back (I’m thinking positive here), make copies. Good luck!

Elizabeth says:

I was so sorry to hear about your computer. omg, that sucks. One bit of advice regarding pictures. You should buy an external hardrive to back up important files. Your pictures should always be in 2 places. Maybe even burn dvd’s with the pictures also. The new external harddrives are so small that you can put them in a fireproof box. I know this info doesn’t help you now, but we can always prepare for the future. Keep thinking positive, that there is an honest person out there, that will find the computer and turn it in. Good luck and thank you for sharing your life on this blog. Your family is a true inspiration.

Lisa says:

Well how about a good airline story? A student of mine left her textbook behind on a plane and the cleaning crew found it and mailed it back to school. She knew she had lost it, but had no idea it was on the plane so she was very happy when it showed up. While it was no laptop, it was an expensive book and she would have had to pay for it which would have been tough for her.

Heather – You were on my mind all night. I will keep praying that someone decides to do the right thing. There are still good people out there… Sometimes they just need a little nudge from that little voice in their head to remind them of their best self.

Laura Fisk says:

My heart breaks that you lost your laptop. We don’t know each other but I have read your blog for a long time. I have laughed and cried along with you. Your laptop is still out there! What if you were to call the airline and offer a reward? I have a feeling that your laptop will come back to you.

Allison says:

no funny story…just a comment on your dt. coke addiction. I sure hope you are using all of those valuable mycokerewards.com codes! I am in no way connected to coke…just a junkie myself and can’t imagine the points you could be racking up

Jess L. says:

Two weeks ago I swiped my credit card at the gas pump, stuck it back in my wallet and plopped the wallet on the roof of my new hatchback. Finished pumping, hopped in the car, and drove off into the sunset. Notice a step missing? The one where I grab the wallet off the car? Yeaaaah. But a wonderful gentleman stopped in the middle of state highway to pick it up, called my credit card companies until he found one willing to pass on the message (thank you, Discover!) and returned it to me with every last dollar bill intact (not to mention the prayer card I pulled out of my Dad’s wallet when he passed away 8 yrs ago and have carried every day since).

Lisa_in_WI says:

Karen says:

I have done many, many stupid things in my life, Heather. Once i was navigating on a map for my husband while we drove through a very rural, mountainous region of Ohio, with his parents following us, from church back to our cabin. We got completely lost. I had no clue where I was and was convinced there were roads that did not exist on my map. We had our three kids in car, too, one who was just two years old and not very patient. It took us an extra hour to get back, and my father in law was laughing like crazy when we finally got back to the cabin.

My husband was livid. Hissing through his teeth, “You are FIRED from ever navigating for us again.”

I reminded him that he knew, when we got married, that I get lost easily. I have gotten lost in Paris, in Nice, in just about every large city I’ve been in. Once I got lost in a HOTEL in New York City. A HOTEL. And we were nearly late to see Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard. Also I had my aunt’s only child with me, so my aunt was beside herself with worry and fear by the time we finally found each other.

Diana says:

As lame as this is, I would consider telling the airline about the priceless photos and that you’d be willing to offer a reward. As much as I hate to see you have to give someone money to get your computer back, that might motivate them to turn it over…and with the added knowledge of the priceless photos and how devastated she would be.

As a side note, I once crash my blog on my computer. I use iWeb so it lived on my computer and not the internet. I could recreate it from painstakingly copying and pasting off my published site on the web but it took me days!!!! I learned my lesson and bought a back-up drive and started using the built-in program to back up my hard drive from that day forward. Luckily it was not “gone” but to re-create it was a total disaster for me. I hope she has a back-up drive! Fingers crossed.

Melissa says:

Bummer! Don’t worry, it will probably be found. Traveling with children is stressful; it’s easy to forget other things behind.

In my party days, I headed across the country for a two week vacation with friends. And MY WALLET fell out of my purse on a flight. I didn’t realize it until out at dinner that night. I called the airline and no one had turned it in.

My debit card. My Driver’s License. How do you do vacation without money or ID? We had been planning on going out a ton and I wouldn’t be able to do to that. I didn’t even know how I’d get back on the flight to get home without ID.

Luckily, my parents Fed Ex’d me my birth certificate and their credit card. I still was able to have a great vacation but it would have been so much easier if I had just checked the floor before I left the plane in the first place.

A week after I returned home, my wallet showed up in the mail. $5 was missing, which paid for postage, but everything else was there. I’ve lost a ton of things since (I’m very forgetful) – including a fancy Nikon camera, and they have always been turned in. I know I’m lucky for that but there still is a lot of good people out there.

Diana says:

Rachel Whitten says:

I’m so sorry to hear about that! What a way to spoil a perfectly good trip.

This past May, my mom, sister and I were driving to Texas, and my mom realized she couldn’t find her phone. She searched all around, we even pulled over and looked in the trunk to see if she had accidentally left it there during the last stop. We resigned ourselves to driving an hour back to the last gas station we stopped at and hoping it was still there, when my mom realized it was actually….in her bra. I have no idea how that happened and it takes absentmindedness to a whole new level, but I’m sure glad we didn’t have to drive all the way back to discover its actual location.

Abby says:

I totally wish I knew someone who cleaned airplanes…..because I would call them and make them give Heather her computer. Hopefully she had something like her name and address on the computer so MAYBE they boxed it up and put in the mail and it will arrive home soon.

Audra says:

I’m so, so sorry. As someone with a documented anxiety disorder I know how it feels to be really upset about something like that and to be frustrated and exhausted when that kind of panic continues for a protracted amount of time. So you’d think that I’d be really careful with all of my things. Uh-uh. I try, unfortunately I also have a documented attention deficit problem and am so easily distracted that things, particularly valuable things, often get misplaced or thrown away. Since marrying my oh-so-patient husband nine years ago I’ve accidentally thrown away our marriage license and my teaching license. I took our marriage license with me when I went on a cruise with my mom, aunt and cousin. I thought I needed it because my passport had my old name. While we were on the ship I used it as a bookmark in a magazine and it got thrown away. My teaching certificate got pitched with the daily newspaper the day after it arrived in the mail I also once lost a check for 8 hundred dollars for long enough that I had to confess my irresponsibility to the writer of the check when they asked about why it wasn’t cashed. I know that my items certainly don’t have the sentimental value of photos and videos, but I hope this helps.

Shalini says:

While it’s interesting to hear all these stories of accidental losses, they pale (and even hurt) in the face of what Heather lost. No one means to do this of course, as humans we want to share similar stories to make the other person feel better, but it can also serve to make that person’s loss even more profound when they read about someone losing their car keys vs. their losing pictures/video of a child they lost.

I think Heather just needs virtual hugs because none of our experiences compare to what she’s going to right now.

giselle says:

I understand your point, but Mike specifically asked for funny stories to help cheer Heather up. I don’t think people are being rude, I think they are just trying to help in anyway they can, even if it’s just something to bring a quick smile to her face like the phone in the bra story.

My husband and I have both lost our wedding ring…in the compost pile, in our backyard. No, really, both same pile…4 years apart. We both found it again…really almost worse than a needle in haystack (because ring at bottom of HUGE pile of gross refuse is WAY messier and smellier)…but it all turned out ok.

leslie says:

I had that happen at a movie theater with my purse, at Christmas time so a rare time it had $$. We called and they said they did not have it. When we pointed out we were the LAST to leave (which we happened to be) and it could only be an employee (we kept calling to get management) suddenly it turned up. No money but at least the cards and such. Somehow it appeared after they had assured me it was not possibly left.
Push the fact that it WAS an employee and make sure they make it easy for it to reappear, no questions asked. Heck, tell them you’ll buy it to get the photos back…that is horrible. I am soooo sorry!

Kate says:

I think the idea of sharing stories is to make her feel less stupid for leaving the laptop behind, not to show her that we’ve had equally heartbreaking losses.
In that vein, I have done the stupidest thing known to man, woman, or monkey. A friend and I were driving from Boston to Toronto to visit a friend. This trip is one we had made several times before, without incident. You drive to Albany, and then you basically drive straight west. Well, we somehow got on the wrong highway out of Albany, but we didn’t notice until we saw a sign that said “Last Exit Before MONTREAL.” Holy Bejeezuz. We didn’t have a map of Canada, so we drove back to Albany, and then on to Toronto. All told, 500 extra miles of driving, and we were EIGHT HOURS later than we had said we would be. Ahem.
So! Leaving a laptop, even a precious one, only takes a minute of spacing out. Don’t beat yourself up, please. My fingers, and toes, are crossed for you.

Deb Hauer says:

Two years ago we moved into our new home on July 27th….then I brought my kids to camp on August 1st. Needless to say, we were still busy unpacking our house so I had my husband helping with the kids packing. My husband thought it would be a great idea to put all of my daughters belongings into one of those BIG black trash bags to keep stuff from getting wet and/or dirty. Well I being a former camper know better than to do this as we have all heard the horror stories. My daughter made it to camp ok with all of her belongings in tow….she had a wonderful week and was so excited to see me when the bus brought her back to camp. She had a stuffed animal in her hands and the biggest smile ever on her face. Until we went to get her stuff from the trailer. The “stuff” was not there…..we can only assume when they went to leave someone thought a bag of ‘trash’ had been brought out with all of the campers belongings and it was thrown away.
I am praying for a safe return of your precious computer!

So, so sorry! I had my laptop and digital camera stolen when our house was robbed. They both had pictures and videos of the kids. I hope you have some backups of some of the stuff. After it happened to us, we made an extra backup of everything.

In August 1999 my siblings and I flew from Ottawa to California to visit our father. My sister (who was 14 at the time) left her wallet on the plane. We called and were told they couldn’t find it anywhere…
7 years after that we got a call that they found it.

Melissa says:

I hope the laptop gets returned. There are good people in this world. I once dropped an envelope in a grocery store parking lot with $200.00 in Canadian money in it (my boyfriend and I were going away for the weekend.) When I realized it I was hystarical. I drove back to the store and spoke to customer service and they replied “Oh that was you!” Someone had found it in the parking lot and turned it in. Not one dollar was missing. It meant a lot to me, because I would have definately turned it in if I found it, and it would nice that someone did the same for me.

Christina says:

I USED TO WORK AT LAX FOR ALASKA AIRLINES! I worked that flight all the time. I wish I was still there. But I still have some GREAT friends there. I know they will look for it! I’m going to text them right now!!!

Oh wow I really hope they find the computer!!! I can only imagine how upset Heather must be because of the pricless pics of videos of precious Maddie. I can relate…my laptop got a virus. A bad virus and it had tons of pictures of my mom who passed 2 years ago. They are irreplaceable! Hoping we can get it fixed without losing them. We will say a prayer that the computer is found. Have a safe trip!

Christine says:

Oh, Heather, I really hope that you find your computer! Losing Maddie’s pictures would be horrible. If you do find the computer, BACKUP those pictures to an external hard drive the minute you get home. I always have two copies of all my family photos.

Oh my goodness! That’s always hard when you lose something so important. I didn’t necessarily leave something behind but I lost hundreds of photos of our girls from and adventure weekend. I decided to check how full my memory card was on my camera and managed to format the card instead. I called London Drugs and they said, “Oh no problem Ma’am. It can be retrieve” my sigh of relief only lasted about 30 seconds until she said, “Unless you formatted it and then you can kiss those photos good by. Hahaha, I’m sure you didn’t do that, right? RIGHT?” Um yes I did genius and thanks for ruining my day….Ma’am pft!

Bridget says:

I had a coat mix up on Southwest Airlines a couple years ago. A passenger deplaned and took my coat. I stayed on the plane to the next stop and went I went to get my coat there was a different one in its place (2 sizes too small I might add).

The point of telling this story is that it has a happy ending! The other passenger realized she had my coat in the terminal, but they wouldn’t let her come back to the plane. They did, however, send the coat to BWI and it was waiting for me in the baggage office when I checked in to head home. So they do find the items and get them to you some times, they really do!

Amanda says:

I hope it is found! In the future, I totally recommend Livedrive.com. Once you hook it up, it backs up your computer automatically. It takes a little while the first time (lots of leaving the computer open while it uploads), but once the initial changes are made, everything else is automatic and you can access ALL of your computer files through the internet. TOTALLY worth the piece of mind knowing that you wouldn’t lose everything if you lost the computer.

My laptop has been infected with a trojan virus since Friday, July 17th. I don’t keep a whole heck of a lop on there that I can’t replace and I’m sick to my stomach over my husband having to (hopefully SOON) rebuild it. I can’t imagine what Heather is going through! Well, possibly as small bit as my wallet was stolen out of my purse on July 11th while I was at lunch with my family. I loved that wallet. It was a vintage Cole Haan wallet, ugly blue, about the size of a Jimmy John sandwich, and got it for a steal at a second hand shop — only $22 and it was brand new! Anyhow. I second the motion to call the public relations team until they take action. SOMEONE at Alaskan Airlines is SURE to know who you are.

Susan says:

OK, flash-back….it’s 1968, and I am an 18 year old angsty girl traveling back to LAX after living in Odessa, Texas for a few months. My parents sent me away as I think I was making them crazy with worry.
My treasured favorite albums….you know the big black records??? of Bob Dylan, The Doors, Janice Joplin, The Beatles and Stones….I carefully placed under my airplane seat.
Of course you know the rest….I left without them and they were not there when checked.
I do still think about that on occassion…especially lately when I now have my parents classic old “hi-fi” in my retro den….and all my husband’s…I mean ALL…of his old albums, ready to take a spin….and mine aren’t there.
Here’s wishing you the best in getting that computer back.

Lisa from WV says:

Fingers crossed that they find it and return it to you. How horrible. Since this story is about my husband and not me, I thought I’d share, lol. My husband once drove 6 hours away to see his favorite band in concert. That’s a pretty long distance to travel to see your favorite band without your concert tickets. Yep, he left them at home!

I’m so sorry to hear about this. I really do hope they find the computer and return it and if they do, then I highly recommend burning two or three DVDs with all the precious photos and videos as backup. I’ve lost many photos because my hard drive crashed and I had no backups.

As for forgetting something when you’re traveling with a baby, I don’t think there is a parent out there who hasn’t. I once left my backpack with ALL my groceries (back when we had almost nothing to live on) on the bus. Got off with my baby son who was screaming, walked halfway home and realized what I’d done, but the bus was gone. My husband went to talk to them later and the bag was gone. We ate beans for a week.

LexC says:

Email Chris Elliott…he runs a travel blog and is usually very good at getting results. elliottc@gmail.com
Include that there are irreplacible pictures and videos on the computer too…it couldn’t hurt. I really hope everything works out for Heather.

Tara says:

Oh man. I hope they find her computer! That would really suck if they don’t because it would mean an airline employee took it. :o(
Was there a flight after? Maybe someone put in an overhead thing to make room for their bag?

jacky says:

I am so sorry to hear this!! But you will at least have what is backed up on Flickr, right? I try to back my photos up on a website like snapfish or flickr so I can my photos safe from a computer disaster.

Amanda says:

At my house we would say that this was a very “Amanda” thing to do. My stupidity is limitless… Lately I’ve been questioning my decision for someone I hired last month and I decided that it was officially a dumb one when today I had to explain time zones to this college degreed professional in her mid-twenties. When I was finished with my explaination (I used a map and all), she looked at me and in complete seriousness said “so if it’s 9:00 here (Atlanta), then it’s 10:00 in Alabama.”

Kate M says:

Oh how upsetting!! I hope AA whips some employee butts to bring it back to Heather.

When my husband and I were on the last leg (13th day of our 15 day trip) of our honeymoon in Italy in the middle of visiting Pompeii, he accidently hit a wrong button on the camera and erased all of our honeymoon pictures. I can still remember that moment. My husband, while sensitive, is a pretty strong alpha male and he told me what happened and sat down and cried. I was sick to my stomach both for losing the pictures and seeing him so upset. We tried to enjoy the rest of our day but were soo depressed. After a day of sulking, I came up with a plan. Although we knew we could never get our Florence and Venice pics back, we were gonig back to Rome for one day before we flew back to the states so we recreated our pics. It was kind of like that scene from Vacation with Chevy Chase at the Grand Canyon. We didn’t actually stop to tour the ruins, Coliseum, etc. as we’d already done so. We just stopped and took pictures quickly and moved on. It was kind of funny, actually. But, at least we were able to capture SOME of it.

My husband’s computer was also stolen right after we got engaged and we lost all those pictures too.

I’ve learned to keep memories in my head.

With that said, I still don’t think this holds a candle to the special memories you have on your computer and I PRAY that they find it!!!

Lindsay from Boston says:

When our home was robbed, my mom was most frantic about the video camera (because it had a video IN it that was little pieces of the last few years of my life at that point). She sent a letter to every single pawn shop in our city, saying that she could care less about getting the camera back but that if anyone had the videotape, please contact her.

There are still some good people in the world, because one pawn guy went through all his video cameras to see if one matched, and it did, and we got it back.

Abby says:

OH Heather! I hope they get your laptop back!! I hate the thought that someone would steal it, especially if it has videos and pictures of your Maddie on it!!

I do lots of stupid things, but three years ago, at the ripe old age of 27, I realized that the “b” in the word “subtle” is actually silent. Someone took me aside at work and explained this to me as I had always pronounced it with the stupid B. Bah.

krissy says:

The day after our wedding, we were at the airport waiting to board our plane to sunny ol mexico… I was playing with our new video camera (that had the ONLY copy of our wedding ceremony/first dance blah blah blah on it) and I was trying to delete pictures on there… well WHOOPS! I deleted our whole wedding!!! I almost cried! I did take it in to see if they could get anything off the dvd but they told me it would be super expensive.

I still have the DVD hoping someday to find somebody to do it cheaper for me. Im just greatfull I still had all the professional pics. but the video was priceless, it was the only evidence I had of my hubbie choking over his vows. =( I still kick myself when I think about it.

I left my wallet, full of money, credit cards, IDs, etc, in a shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot. I didn’t notice until the following day. I still managed to get it back, including all the contents. There are still good people out there! I’m sure your computer will show up. *big hugs*

I really hope Heather and Mike get that laptop back, or at least the photos/videos from it!!

But, I’m going to be the “IT Guy” for a sec and remind EVERYONE here — BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!!!

Your most precious photos/videos should never reside on a single computer. From 15 years in the business, I can say with authority — ANY computer can fail at ANY time with NO warning, and data can disappear permanently.

Despite knowing the risks of not backing up at work, I was never responsible about it at home until our daughter was born in 2006. Suddenly, I realized — we have very few printed photos/albums. The vast majority of the pictures and videos documenting her life are in digital format.

So now, I’m fanatical about it. Our computer backs up automatically to two external drives; one in the same room, one networked on the other side of the house, in case of fire/flood. Every month, I make an external hard drive backup which I keep in my desk at work. And every 2-3 months, I make another external drive backup which is given to Grandma, who lives two states away.

This is going to be a major issue for our generation, and the ones to follow. We aren’t (for the most part) going to have dozens of photo albums to show our kids and grandkids. We’re going to have digital versions, and how we safeguard that information is going to become a major issue.

I seriously hope the Spohrs get those pictures back. But either way, I also hope Heather & Mike start BACKING THINGS UP from now on. This is heartbreaking, but utterly preventable.

Lara says:

Having had a laptop blow a motherboard and not having most of it backed up, I have to agree that it’s really good advice. I now have our kids pictures on flickr, my laptop, our desktop, plus an online backup.

Rick Smith says:

Even the best advice can be ill timed. And right after discovering that precious, irreplaceable things are gone… when the pain is so new and fresh. Probably not the best time. It’s like telling a parent whose kid died in a car accident that their child would still be alive if they’d worn their seatbelt and then basically writing a PSA about how important seatbelt wearing is ON THE PARENt’S BLOG the day OF the accident… is in poor taste and ill-timed. Same thing.

It is harrying getting off a plane when you are not worrying about an infant! So much stuff to grab and remember.
I really, really (Really!) hope her laptop turns up!
If someone did think it might be a good idea to take it, then hopefully he or she will think better of it and turn it in.
(hint, hint!-ahem)

Jen says:

I agree, email customer service the link to this blog and Twitter about it. Seems that Twitter gets things done.

The fact is, that while airline is not technically responsible for things left behind, you being the last one off means that if they do not find it, an AIRLINE EMPLOYEE STOLE IT! And that’s not good for business.

And WHEN you get it back, buy an external hard drive (or two) and back up all those photos of your precious girls.

I am sick to my stomach for Heather – and you, too, Mike!! I hope, hope, hope they find and return this computer. You almost want to say “if you’ll just transfer everything to another hard drive then you can have the dang computer” which still wouldn’t be pretty but at least you’d have your priceless photos and videos.

Fingers crossed, good vibes sent and prayers sent. And mental note to myself to back up that external hard drive tonight – maybe get another one and keep it at the parents house as a true insurance policy.

Holly says:

Okay, so my friend says that the cleaning crews are NOT Alaska employees, they are outsourced…. She said no way would any of the flight crew steal something they found, but she’s not so sure about the quality of the cleaning crew since they aren’t Alaska employees….. She recommends to keep pestering Customer Service. And perhaps an attendant found the laptop, and it just hasn’t made it’s way to you via customer service yet?

Sandra says:

A few years ago my husband and I were in the PHoenix airport waiting for our plane to depart for CABO. We were in a restaurant drinking a couple bloody mary’s. I sort of heard our names being called out in the hallways but dismissed it because WHY would they be calling for us.

We went to the gate ahead of time and saw our plane leaving. AZ doesn’t partake in daylight savings so our clocks were off. We missed our flight and had to stay the night in PHoenix.

Katie says:

Heather I love love reading your blog. And I can related to your lost memories not on as big of scale though. My husband and I went camping with friends last weekend and I never bring anything I don’t want lost or stolen. But of couse this time i decided to bring our camera that we had just bought in Dec because we always have such a good time and never have any pics to show for it. Woke up Sunday morning no camera looked high and low asked around nobody had seen it. the worst part is I don’t always put our pics on the computer right away so I now have a lot of lost memories and I’m out our new camera. Hope you have much better luck than me!

Donna says:

About 3 months ago I shipped a laptop from Atlanta to my husband in Fort Lauderdale, Florida via UPS. UPS picks up at our office location each day so it was convenient. I filled out the form online and attached the mailing label provided requesting a two-day delivery. Unfortunately was in a hurry and overlooked the “item value” portion requested in the shipping information.

The box made it to Fort Lauderdale and disappeared. I’m of the firm belief it was stolen by UPS employees as I watched the tracker and it did make it to their Lauderhill location and the tracker said it was placed on the truck for delivery. The laptop was several years old and didn’t have any personal info on it, but I had just upgraded the RAM card and it was working well. UPS sent me their standard $100 reimbursement check. Boy, do I feel stupid.

Just a few short weeks ago I left my backpack that included: my wallet, ID, Debit Card, Camera, Cell Phone, Hotel key, shuttle pass among other things in California Adventure. I realized this after we had been back in Disneyland for at least an hour. THANKFULLY it was right were I left it.

Michelle W says:

I am going to be thinking about this until the moment I hear news and sending out positive thoughts.

When I took my son and daughter to the Airport to meet-up with some close friends on a layover I brought with us my daughters scrapbook from her first year at Playschool. I didn’t realize I had left it behind until a couple of MONTHS later and when I called of course the Lost and Found department couldn’t find it. I even tried again a few weeks later after I realized that I hadn’t given them precisely the right date. I couldn’t help but feel sad at the loss of her scrapbook (which sounds idiotic when telling you and Heather). But nevertheless, it was how I felt. A couple months later still I get a message from her Playschool teacher who as luck has it is on my facebook who tells me someone from the Lost and Found department at the Airport found it and traced it to the correct school and had sent it to her. People are really mostly great, and many life experiences have taught me that. Your blog and the outpouring of love and support have renewed it once again.

Michelle W says:

Michelle W says:

I wanted to say, that while I know the Scrapbook had no $$ value so there wasn’t the added risk that someone might have stolen it for their own gains 2 things did happen.

One – someone who found it realized it would be important to someone and turned it into lost and found and

2. When the person in charge of the Lost and Found dept realized it had been sitting there unclaimed for months she went to the trouble of doing some sleuthing to track down the playschool where my daughter attended and then mailed it there. I also personally contacted her to thank her and let her know that it was definitely an important memento and it would never be lost again.

Oh MAN – the same thing just happened to us last week! My husband and I were traveling with our two girls (2 yrs. old and 7 mo. old) from Seattle down to Long Beach on jetBlue. We, of course, had one million and one things to remember to take off the plane – the kids being the most important – and my husband forgot the laptop in the overhead compartment. He only realized this after we’d driven the 45 minutes to Burbank and had been at my grandparents house for three or so hours. He panicked, I called jetBlue who then directed me to call the LGB airport. They were beyond awesome. As soon as I said we were on the previous flight from SeaTac to LGB and had left a bag on the plane, the rep asked me if it was a laptop and I said, “YES!!”. They had already called our number and left a message but said we could come by between 7:30 AM and 10:45 PM any day to pick it up. I was so excited that it was there that I forgot to ask what phone number they’d called and how they knew it was ours since the computer and bag have no identifying tags on them. Weird.
Obviously our story turned out to have a happy ending, which I’m sure yours will too. The moral is to fly jetBlue because they kick ass. Delta has lost our luggage (returned a day later), Continental always has plane issues (bird in the engine?), and Alaska has the least friendly flight attendants on all of our flights for some dumb reason.
It’s totally okay to forget things as long as you take your children off the plane with you
Good luck!!

Kelly says:

heather-
i’m so sorry this happened. at least annie is safe. i’ve travled alone from hawaii to brazil with a small toddler in tow. it was miserable and totally nerve wrecking.

last year my husband was traveling to brazil and I was going to hawaii. we were leaving from LA so we had a long drive ahead of us. At midnight of the night before we packed up our car with all our luggage. at 5:00am we woke up our baby put him in the car and realized that all our luggage had been stolen. everything gone. i lost my wedding ring and tons of other jewelry. i was so devastated.

lauren says:

I hope this comes out ok, and I absolutely do not want to upset you any more or state the obvious, but I was thinking about this. Is it Possible that you have the those pics and video stored somewhere else as well. Could they be online somewhere or on the camera disk? The reason I ask this is because (and this is not anywhere compared to what you have been thru) but My hubby erased all of my infant pics from the camera disk once. Instead of transferring the pics he deleted them. However a few days later I remembered we had downloaded them to kodak gallery. My point is that in your anguish is it possible that you are forgetting that they might also be downloaded someplace else? My comment is aimed at lifting you up not making things worse so I hope that I am not saying something further to upset you.

Jody says:

I am so sorry that the laptop has not been found yet. I really hope that whoever has it hears your story and does the right thing. Keep talking and twittering about it. The more people who do, the greater the chance it will be returned. I have my fingers crossed that it will turn up somehow.

Claudia says:

I have to say that one of the facts in your story is not correct as I am the Champion Diet Coke drinker!

My experience when I left things back in a plane (it has happened a few times as I used to fly for business) has been REALLY good. I was pleasantly surprised when my purse (I don’t know what I was thinking when I walked out of the plane without it…) was returned to me by the cleaning crew with all the money and jewelry in it!

A couple months ago I was traveling alone and somehow I dropped my engagement ring before getting on the plane (loosing weight does have some cons!). I was surprised when, after they had closed the plane for takeoff, they reopen the door to let an airline employee in, he proceeded to ask the ladies in the plane to look for something missing on their hands and sure enough, I was missing my ring!

I truly hope that Heather recovers her laptop. If someone takes it and does not return it then karma is a b****

I’ve been following Heather’s twitter on this and I’m so sorry, you guys. I did sent a message to @alaskaair saying that I owed @mamaspohr a huge thank you because now I know never to fly their airline with their dishonest, thieving employees.

FyshWyfe says:

My first thought when reading this was, “Please tell me the pics and vids are backed up somewhere!” It’ll break my heart if they’re gone! I know a lot of them are stored on online servers, but I know you have more that you haven’t shared with us. I’m so so sorry. I hope you get it back.
My stupid stories are all drunk stories, and involve things like showing my panties to the bartender, and saying, “Look, they match my dress!” and then getting shown the door. Ya, stuff like that.

Bridget says:

Heather,
I have two stories where I lucked out, that I hope my luck helps you.

I once left my brand new camera (bday gift from boyriend) in a bathroom, next to the sink, in a casino in Las Vegas. We were celebrating my bday. I realized it was missing 20 minutes later (camera whore lol). We searched far and low, asked security to help (it was a pink camera). We went back to our hotel and I cried and cried. Not for the camera itself, but for the pictures. And for the dissappointment in myself.

My boyfriend, the amazing guy he is, went out a few hours later (it was early morning now) to go back to that casino and look around for my pink camera. He even looked at people taking pics to see if they were using a pink camera. Somebody had turned it in to security.

There are good people out there!
When he came back to our room with the camera, I about died. He and I both gave thank yous to the security staff and I hugged everyone.

I also dropped my 2 month old Iphone under my car at my work parking lot (carrying too much crap). I realized it was missing an hour or two later. Went to my car to look, and BAM there it was under my car on the pavement. No one stole it, saw it or ran it over thank GOD!

O man, that sucks… It’s like a camera… It’s not the loss of the camera but the pictures that are on it that hurts most…
I do hope also that there were backups of the photographs of Madeline, or it would be a total drag… I will send good vibes!

Sabrina says:

I think it’ll be found and returned. I can’t imagine it not being; it’s too depressing to consider. IF someone did decide to just keep it, I hope they see photos and videos of Maddie and Annie and are immediately struck with the full realization that they are going to Hell.

Let’s see, funny story…

For my honeymoon (which occurred almost exactly four years ago; anniversary was yesterday, yay!) we few on Delta from LAX to Jamaica. …And somehow my luggage ended up in Florida.

Thankfully I had the foresight to pack my bathing suit in my purse, so I spent the first five days of my honeymoon in my bathing suit, which pretty much suited me fine. It sucked that I couldn’t shave, though, so I spent most of my honeymoon with cactus legs and hairy pits!

Okay, this is not my story, but I’m stealing it because I think it will bring a smile.

At the beginning of the month, I went to a conference. The man who was opening the day had to stall for time because of “technical difficulties.” He proceeded to tell us about his first conference and his boss asking what funny story he would be sharing. He wasn’t prepared, so he used the bosses story about forgetting black dress socks and having to buy black hose and trim them with a pocket knife.

This was a pretty good story and I think we were all ready. Turns out, it was only the build up. The speaker says, “Well, I think I one-upped him.” He then tells us that he loaded up the company van with over a hundred binders, checked to be sure he had everything we would need and drove about 6 hours. His wife called as he was almost to the hotel. “Did you forget something?” she asked. He told her he probably forgot something, but it was surely not to big. Turns out, he forgot…

his suitcase.

Oops.

Anyway, he was in a slightly ill-fitting suit he had bought late the night before.

twingles says:

We are in the middle of an out-of-state location and so far this week we’ve left a cell phone in a rental car and a cell phone charger in a previous night’s hotel room. Needless to say, we need both cell phone and charger since we are technically homeless right now.

We got both back. Make sure you go up the chain if you don’t get that computer back. ANd here’s hoping you have the kind of luck we did.

i will deny it if you ask me about it, but one time we all walked into our apartment (mom, dad, 3 kids) from our minivan parked out on the street. we started sending people to the bathroom, doing the usual just-got-home kind of stuff when my husband looked at me and said, “where’s lilianna?”

yup. we left our 2 month old baby sitting peacefully in the van! our nightmare had come true! now we can hardly go anywhere without one of us panicking to see if we indeed have the baby with us.

Oh no, Heather. I know how it is to be traveling with kiddos and being lucky you made it off the plane with everyone in one piece. This can happen so easily.
I hope that an honest Alaskan Air employee pipes up soon. This has to be remedied. Someone knows where your precious pictures are!

Angela says:

I don’t work for them nor is this a paid endorsement BUT (and this is a big but), for $99, your files are automatically backed up on their site. Hindsight’s 20/20 but maybe for the future, this is something you might want to consider.

I hope you find your computer. As a matter of fact, even though I don’t really know you, I’d rather me lose my computer than to have you lose yours. I know it’s that important to you.

Jim at Alaska Airlines says:

My name is Jim and I’m the station manager at Ronald Regan National for Alaska Airlines. First, I want say we feel awful that we could not locate your missing laptop — especially given the content on its hard drive. Since hearing from you last night, we put our staff at Reagan National Airport on alert and by 5 a.m. EST, we’d escalated the search to include the entire airport.

Here’s an overview of what we’ve done in the last 16 hours:

— The cleaning crew and a senior agent did a sweep of the aircraft within an hour after passengers deplaned.

— After the aircraft was cleaned, a security sweep was done to ensure no articles were left onboard, a standard procedure. Staff reported a laptop was not left on the plane. The aircraft was then locked for the night and access restricted.

— When you called last night, our airport employees at Reagan National were put on alert to continue the search this morning.

— By 5 a.m. EST, our station staff reinspected the aircraft in the effort to find your laptop. Our station supervisor personally searched the aircraft after it was unlocked and did not find a laptop.

— We have alerted Reagan National Airport Lost and Found and asked that in the event any articles are turned in, we are notified immediately.

There is a chance your laptop could have been picked up by a customer inadvertently. Should someone turn it into Regan National Airport or us, we will notify you immediately.

My staff and I will remain vigilant in the search for your laptop and in the meantime hope that someone turns your laptop in to Lost and Found. We have not taken this lightly. Our fingers, toes, and hearts are crossed in the hope that your laptop is reunited with you.

Kindest regards,
Jim and the Alaska Airlines’ Reagan National Airport team

Linda says:

Heather was in the last row no one sat behind her and she was the last passenger off the plane. So another flier could not have picked it up. Aren’t their cameras in the airport and are there any onboard. I know all she wants is her laptop with her pictures and videos of Maddie. Let’s pray someone at Alaskan Airlines can find it

Dianne says:

Thank you for posting a comment here on Heather’s blog. We all care deeply about Heather and join her in missing Maddie very much! It is helpful to read about what Alaska Airlines has done in this search. However, given the circumstances of Heather being the last person to deplane, it does make me wonder about the likelihood of her computer now being in the possession of someone on the Alaska Airlines cleaning/maintenance crew. Hopefully, the individuals on those crews have been informed of the priceless nature of the pictures and videos on the laptop so that they might feel motivated to return the laptop. Anyway, I think you have helped Alaska Airlines’ PR situation to some degree by commenting here on Heather’s blog. As you can see, she has a passionate group following her blog!

———-

Heather: Even though honesty should trump everything, have you considered authorizing Alaska Airlines to offer a reward to their cleaning / maintenance / flight crews for the safe return of your laptop? Sometimes money can motivate where ethics don’t.

Snickrsnack Katie says:

How wonderful of Jim to write here on your blog, Heather! I am so glad that at least Alaska Airlines is taking this so personally and doing what they need to do!! Way to go, Alaska Airlines!

I just hope that one of the crew at AA isn’t the culprit behind this stolen laptop. I find it hard to imagine that another passenger stole it since Heather was the last off the flight. Unless they took it BEFORE Heather deplaned without her noticing, although I find that hard to imagine since she had it underneath the seat. It would be hard for someone to steal your laptop that is right in front of you. That being said – I would hope that AA calls a meeting of any and all individuals who were cleaning the plane, along with stewardesses, to make sure they realize the gravity of this situation, and hope that they decide to do the right thing and turn the laptop back in.

Marti from Michigan says:

I got onto Facebook, and noticed there is the same “pat” answer for just about everyone who posted in support of Heather. I really hope they find the laptop and if an employee did take it, that they will feel extreme guilt and give it back.

Dina says:

I agree, that was disappointing. But I hope they are doing much more behind the scenes. If a cleaning crew member took it, that means that they need to look beyond the airplane and airport…Also, has that particular plane already flown to another airport?
I really hope they can appeal to someone’s conscience.

Rebecca says:

Amy says:

I hope you all don’t mind, but I just called Alaska Air’s corporate office. I am in Marketing, and just wanted to stress to them that it would be extremely good PR for them (considering all of Heather’s blog readers and twitter followers) to do everything possible to find Heather’s laptop. I was told that Elliot Tesut is the one that would spear head an “all hands on deck” plan w/ Alaska Air to find the laptop. He is also the one who is in charge of the twitter acct. – I left him a message, hopefully he gets the importance of this.

B says:

Is there any wild, outside chance that she actually did grab the computer and then left it elsewhere (airport shuttle, etc.)?? I’m sure she’s considered all of the possibilities, but in a panicked state your mind can convince you of all sorts of things. For instance, I was CERTAIN I’d put my wallet in my purse before I left a store, commenced freaking out upon not finding it at the next stop, was halfway through cancelling my cards when I arrived at my final destination, a light bulb went on and I found the wallet right on top of the car where I’d left it (held miraculously in place by the luggage rack).

Mari says:

Now I am getting so anxious… I really hope they will find the computer. Similar things happened to me twice. Once my dad was supposed to watch my bag containing camera, but he forgot. We went back to the spot where he left my bag, but it was gone! We went to lost and found, but nothing… I was so upset. I didn’t care about the camera, but I wanted all the pictures. Security at the building where we were decided to shut the building for us so they can search for my bag. About 30 minutes later, they found somebody carrying around my bag! Second time, I was careless and lost my tiny accessory bag for camera at huge tourist attraction area. It had memory card filled with our wedding pictures and honeymoon pictures. Me and my husband took backtracked everywhere we went, but found nothing. Heartbroken and upset, we left information at lost and found and we left the place. About 2 weeks later, we got a package in a mail and it contained my lost item! Oh and I was forgotten at grocery store when I was 8 or 9…

Alison says:

It is unbelievably heartwarming to see all of your supports who have voiced there concerns to Alaska Airlines on Facebook. It must feel amazing to have so many people looking out for you and its unreal what the blog community can accomplish.

Nikki says:

Oh, what a nightmare, but we’ve all done it so don’t beat yourself up … I once spaced & checked my suitcase that contained ALL of the cash we had recieved from our destination wedding in Costa Rica! I stressed and cried the entire 7hr flight home, but luckily it was there when we grabbed our luggage. WHEW!
Praying for a safe return of your computer

Christina says:

I know this may sound dramatic, but perhaps a call to a local news station? A story running as a filler on TV and on their website may appeal to somoene in the cleaning crew if they in fact are in possession of the laptop. Heather is a well known blogger and I would imagine someone in DC news reads her blog and can help?
Also, not my story to tell, but my brother’s high school girlfriend was the 3rd oldest in a family of 6. The youngest, the only boy. When he was a baby, the entire family piled into a car for a road trip and early one afternoon the mother realized that the car ride had been very peaceful since lunch. It was at that time she counted heads and realized they had left the baby at the rest stop where the family had just picknicked. The family turned around and drove back. He was there in his baby seat under the table with a nice family looking after him.

Steve says:

I really hope that the laptop makes an appearance again and gets to it’s rightful owner.

I am upset that everyone is so quick to fault Alaska Air (not Alaskan Air) however. It is not in their best interest to ignore this customers plight, so I am sure they are doing all they can to help in the recovery of the laptop.

Washington DC is a very small port for Alaska Air and is run by contractors for the most part.

As far as it was an Alaska Employee or one of its contractors who stole the laptop, this seems to be a rush to judgment. Now as your blog is written this is not the view you have presented. However, it seems a lot of readers of this Blog have rushed to this judgment, based on the Twitter responses regarding this subject.

My point is that no one knows who took what. Obviously it has been taken. Where to we don’t know as of yet. Based on the story that is told she placed the laptop under her seat. If this is truly the case, she put it where the person behind her would place their items. If she placed the item under the seat in front of her, this is where her carry on items should go. So not blaming anyone here, but it sounds as if it might have been placed in the wrong place.

The story also says that she did not notice that the laptop was missing until she got to her hotel room. Well, there was probably a lot of time that passed between the events of getting off the plane and getting into the Hotel room. I am not calling her a lair or saying she is not telling the truth, but the fact of the matter is that a lot of time and distance passed before the laptop was declared missing. It honestly could have been stolen off of her directly between the airport and the hotel room.

I am just pointing out that any thing could have happened. I agree that it is a shame it is missing, and I hope the the person responsible for taking the laptop realizes their folly. But I just find it wrong to jump to conclusions about a business being at fault when all they are trying to do is help locate the missing item.

I am a business owner and have experienced how a rush to judgment can harm the reputation that I as a business owner have striven to achieve. All because of an assumption without knowing all of the facts.

This is very a very sad story, and I only hope for the best in the laptop’s recovery.

I also hope the person who is in possession of the laptop, realizes that they have just stolen some one Else’s belongings.

Sandy says:

Snickrsnack Katie says:

I do agree about the fact of her putting it under the seat she sat in. That was not the correct place to put it. However, she was supposedly in the back row, correct? Therefore, no one behind her to grab it. She could have put the laptop under her own seat or under the seat in front of her – either way, those two places would have only been used by her.

Snickrsnack Katie says:

Just realized that Mike does not say that she was in the back row – simply that she was the last one off the plane so as not to hold anyone up. So if she did put the laptop under her seat, the person behind her could have taken it, since the spot UNDER her seat is not where she was supposed to put her belongings. Can Alaska Air contact the person who sat behind her? Maybe they can ask if they accidentally took a laptop thinking it was their own?

Michelle W says:

I agree that it’s unfair to rush to judgment and that accusing the cleaning crew when it could have been another passenger either accidentally or intentionally. Some details aren’t clear but it’s clear that Heather accidentally left it on the plane so of course it couldn’t have been stolen off her person between the Airport and her Hotel.

In the end the point is that someone, somewhere knows it’s whereabouts and should come forward. I definitely think getting the story in the media is worthwhile.

erica says:

at my senior prom, i was named to the court…and while i was having photos taken with the rest of my court, someone stole my camera. all of my prom pics, all of the photos i had taken getting ready (this was 10+ years ago, before digital). i was so upset, especially since it was one of my classmates or their date. it still makes me cringe a little to this day.

Amy says:

Lia says:

I know how you feel Heather. I was shopping with my small children and they had to use the bathroom. I don’t how I did it but I left my wallet in the cubicle. All my credit cards, licience and money gone. Boy did I feel bad.

Krista says:

Left my baby blanket in a hotel room in New Orleans when I was a freshman in college (brought it with me for luck on the trip.) Called the hotel, they never found it. It was pretty ratty by that point so they probably threw it out, but it still broke my heart.

Yikes! I’m always scared that I would accidentally leave my laptop somewhere. I really hope Heather gets hers back. In the meantime, it would be a good idea to purchase an external hard drive so that you can back up your computers. Those precious pictures and videos will be safer there.

CTP says:

For what its worth I have left my laptop on an Alaskan Flight, and my iPod. BOTH times Alaska Airlines personnel went out of their way to find my items and return them to me. I would further say they have demonstrated an abundance of caring about my issues.

dana says:

Sorry about your computer =(
Hope they find it, speaking of planes my husband left his wedding ring on the plane the day after we were married! Luckily, some very very good person handed it over to continental and it was returned to us fairly quickly which was nice because I didn’t want our honeymoon in Hawaii ruined

ALexandra :) says:

Don’t beat yourself up about this too much, sweetie ;( We are all human, we all make at least one really big dumb mistake that we regret for the rest of our lives and a lot more little once. Once I stopped to eat at Wendys on the way to the airport and I left my purse there along with my passport in it! Thankfully, my dad stopped me and asked me as soon as we got to the car. Then I did the same thing when I was on the way to the airport to come back home!

Snickrsnack Katie says:

This is I why I thank God that I keep an external hard drive at my house, along with another backup in an online location should something happen to the external hard drive. I am so sorry you lost the precious videos of Madeline – I guess it is at least somewhat of a consolation that you have so many of them on your Flickr account.

I hope that whoever stole that laptop has the DECENCY to see those videos and anonymously send you back your laptop or leave it at the Alaska Airlines counter. Doubt that will happen, but I can wish. So sorry for your anguish right now!

Marti from Michigan says:

I agree, Karma is a B****!!! I keep “arguing” with the Alaska Airline people on Facebook and am continually telling them that a cleaning crew person stole it. They just keep sending me back their “pat” answer. If this does not turn out good, I will remove myself from their “like AA” Facebook page and have nothing more to do with them!

Oh NO. I’m so sorry. I’ve traveled with a baby before and it’s SO hard to remember everything. I really REALLY hope you find your computer – not for the computer, but for the irreplaceable media of your precious Maddie. Will be praying for it’s safe return.

Jodi says:

Hoping and praying you get your computer back Heather!
My mom left a Louis Vuitton bag on a plane last year in a similar situation while de-planing with my neice and nephew. Some time passed before she realized it too. In the end she did get it back. I have a feeling your computer will turn up.
Keep the faith girl. You know your beloved Madeline is looking out for you.

Ashley says:

Aah! I’m in DC….but in my office so I doubt I will see Heather & Annie but I wish I could to say hi! (even though I’m a complete stranger and I imagine that would be super weird to have some random girl come up to you…..ermm…)
I hope they find the laptop, or, if someone did take it (god forbid) they somehow figure out whose laptop it is and return it. What type of laptop is it? I think there is a way to track the location of one (through the IP address?) if someone gets on the internet with it.

Anne says:

Oh, no….I’m just now getting back from vacation and am catching up on emails, blogs, etc. So I just read this! Your computer! All those photos! Ugh, I just pray it gets returned to you.

I’ve done things like that…leaving things behind. So, to make you feel better (if only a little) I’ll share the stories with you:

1988 — I was 19 and totally “in love” with my new boyfriend. I had promised my best friend months before that I’d take a summer vacation to Hawaii with her. The night before the trip, my boyfriend took me out on a special date and gave me a pair of Suncloud sunglasses. Rose colored lenses. They were beautiful. I had always bought the cheap swap meet sunglasses and could never afford a nice pair like those Sunclouds, and to be given them as a gift from my boyfriend….ahhhh, they just meant so much to me! The next day I proudly wore my new sunglasses in my first day in Hawaii. My friend and I were on the beach, and I went into a nearby hotel to use the bathroom. There was no one but me in the bathroom, and I placed my sunglasses on the sink while I washed my hands. Then I left the bathroom without them, holding the door open for a woman who was entering the bathroom. About 1 minute later, I realized that I had left my glasses on the sink…and I ran back. RAN! They were gone. And the woman who had just entered the bathroom – gone. Oh, I was so angry at myself. And I felt so bad! I felt bad for me, because I LOVED those glasses! But I also felt bad for my boyfriend, who at only 19 years old spent his hard earned money on these $100+ sunglasses for his girl friend….and then I only had them ONE day before carelessly losing them! So what did I do? I went to the nearest Sunglass Hut and bought another pair that were exactly the same. I was $100 short on food/spending money for the rest of my time in Hawaii. But when I got back home, my boyfriend never knew the difference. We broke up just two months later, anyway. But I stll have those glasses!

1986: the last day of school, 11th grade. I was leaving school and put my yearbook on the roof of my car while I searched my purse for my car keys. I found them, opened the door, and drove off….forgetting my yearbook was still on the roof of my car. At the first stop light, I wanted to read some of my new signatures from my friends and went for my yearbook….and then I remembered what I did. I made a quick U-turn and sped back to my parking spot. The yearbook was not there. It had only been 3 minutes since I left….but in that time, some kid walked by and picked it up. It was never turned in. My name and phone number was written inside and everything. To this day I am sick about that. How could someone not turn in a fully-signed yearbook? It was the last day of school…the yearbook was completely full of signatures to ME. Who would want that yearbook?!! Creeps out there, I swear….

1992: the year I got married, I moved into my husband’s home. We had little space, so I had to pack up childhood memories and photos and such into boxes and keep them in the backyard shed. We moved out of that house in 1995. When we were packing up, I discovered that the shed didn’t do so well in the rain. One of my boxes was completely destroyed. The items inside didn’t fare so well and were covered in mildew. The lost and destoyed items? some photos….and all of my yearbooks! ALL of my other yearbooks. Gone. I don’t have such good luck with yearbooks, do I? Me…someone who cherishes memories and friendships, has NO yearbooks from her middle school or high school years. I still cannot think about it without getting all worked up about it.

Amy says:

Maybe you could ask Alaska Airlines to tell the employees exactly what that computer has on it, and what it means to your family to recover it – guilt who ever took it into giving it back… just a thought…

christina says:

Mike — re: the diet coke drinking — please email me if you ever consider quitting your habit. I went cold turkey 18 months ago and I swear it’s the best thing I’ve done for myself in decades. It now makes me nauseous to even look at your photos (and I used to be just “as bad” back in the day). Seriously, I lost 5lbs (and I’m petite – not overweight) immediatiately (stopped craving sugary foods), started to really taste things again, and just felt better overall. The freedom is incredible! The entire aspartame (sp?) flavor makes me almost gag now, and I used to crave it.

Oh man, that stinks about the computer. It’s impossible to be 100% on top of your game all the time. Especially when a baby is involved. A few years back I was backing up all of my pictures from my laptop. I thought I was being so smart. I mean, otherwise if my computer crashed I’d lose thousands of pics and wouldn’t that be awful!?!! So I moved these to some CDs. The only part I forgot was to actually BURN The CDs! I was just copying and pasting the files, taking the CD out, and moving to the next group. After I was done I deleted them all. When I put the first blank CD in my other computer days later I thought I was going to vomit!! I literally bawled my eyes out for hours! Wedding, honeymoon, our dog who had just died, trips, all gone! One of my husband’s friends was able to recover some of them but there are still ones that I think about from time to time that I never got back =(

REALLY hope you get your computer back soon! Hopefully even if someone swiped it they’ll see this post and realize how much it means to you and send it back.

Michelle W says:

My husband lost his wedding ring when we were in the process of moving into a townhouse. I looked all over the townhouse at the time and figured I had checked every place possible and finally decided it was gone for good. More than 4 years later it turned up when we were in the process of moving out. As the bed was being dismantled my nephew discovered it resting on the bed frame when they took the box spring off.

And this cool story I’d heard a couple of years back and just looked it up to see if I could find it

gugs says:

My mother flew with my sister in law brother and two kids under 4 to Boston for my other brother’s wedding She had recently lost 100 pounds and decided to have a special dress made by a professional dressmake that cost over $1000 as a celebration of her hard work. THe most she had ever spent on a dress was a 1/10th of this price so this really was something extraordinary. She decided to carry the dress with her on the plane in case her suitcase got lost and she had nothing to wear to the wedding. Of course when she arrived in Boston she realised her dress was not among any of the bags. She thinks she left it on the plane during a stop over in Chicago because with all the kids and hand luggage etc it just went missing. I cant tell you how upset she was. In the end she bought a 100 dollar dress from David’s Bridal and insurance covered the other dress.But it was impossible since you could only leave messages with the airlines etc and not speak to an actual person. Additionally because she doesnt know exactly where it went missing different people (i.e. Chicago police, airport secutiy, airlines) cover different parts of the airport.

Anne says:

Anne says:

I should add that if you do not feel comfortable providing me, a complete stranger, with your stolen/lost laptops IP address then I won’t be able to do much to help you.

It’s an understandable feeling and I respect your wishes. However, giving me your laptop’s IP address won’t make it more stolen…

But I do recommend filing a police report in the area that you lost your laptop in. Then inform your internet service provider (ISP) about the problem and see what they can do for you. From there, you can potentially coordinate between the detectives at the police dept and the ISP. Good luck!

Laura says:

I’m so sorry to hear about your laptop. My hard drive crashed recently, so I know how devastating it can be to try to recover lost data. I use an online backup program called SugarSync… it automatically backs up all of your files, and as soon as a file is modified, it is backed up. The cool thing is that you can synchronize multiple computers and access your files from any computer with internet access. I know it might not help much now, but in case you are looking for a backup system, I’ve been pretty happy with this one.

Hopefully your laptop will be returned. I was traveling in England years ago, and left my purse on a bus. Inside the purse were all of my IDs, my passport, all my credit cards, etc., as well as a bunch of cash (stupid, I know). When I found out that I left it behind, I was terrified. To my shock and amazement, someone found the purse and gave it to the bus driver. I got it back the next day — nothing was missing, not even the cash. Let’s hope that your laptop finds its way back to you.